Embedded Files
Learner-informed knowledge is a prerequisite for integrating technology in an inclusive way so that students from all communities can effectively use it to achieve their goals.
Inclusion and Accessibility
Inclusion and Accessibility
Guiding questions:
How are systems and processes accessible for marginzalized communities and students (socioeconomic status, race, ELL, IEP, sexual orientation, physical ability, nationality, or other unique distinctions)? If not, please explain your next steps.
When opportunities are provided to students and staff, they are provided to ALL students and staff, regardless of gender, race, sexual preference, disability, etc. We make it clear that we want our student and teacher organizations and committees to be as diverse as possible so as to recognize the wide array of voices that we serve in our community.
How are students given voice and choice to demonstrate how they leverage technology to learn?
Firstly, students participate in panorama and technology surveys toward the end of the school year. These surveys, along with expressing general thoughts and feelings about belonging in and satisfaction with the school, allow students the opportunity to express their feedback about using technology as well.
Furthermore, teachers have embraced opportunities to provide student voice and choice in tasks and projects in their lessons and units of study. This has been evidenced through some of the projects that have been shared in this portfolio along with the data from the teacher technology survey.
Finally, our student tech team serves, in a way, as representatives of the student population with regard to technology, much the same as a student government would. During meetings of the student tech team, we discuss issues affecting the general student population and have addressed them by creating digital citizenship resources, podcast topics, etc.
How do you promote diversity and inclusion amongst your staff, students, families, and community?
Additionally, West Rocks hosts many inclusive student and/or family events led by the school as well as our parent organization. Many of these events honor cultural or other variations among our community, such as a multicultural night and Hispanic Heritage dinner, Martin Luther King Day celebration, Black History Month celebrations, LGBTQ+ pride parade, Autism awareness, etc.
An equity committee is part of our array of committees that our staff can be part of. This committee meets regularly to plan and host the aforementioned events as well as to oversee the general culture and climate around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the school. They will also periodically host professional development sessions for staff during faculty meetings to promote equity and inclusion throughout the school.
Community Partnerships
Community Partnerships
Guiding question:
How did you leverage community partnerships to provide equal opportunities for all your students and teachers?
Norwalk Public Schools is committed to implementing school choice programs for families. At the middle school level, instructional/curricular choice is largely determined based on unique pathways offered at each of the schools. Here at West Rocks, our pathways include the arts, including media and performing arts, a dual language program, and a new partnership with the local Maritime Aquarium.
Instructional planning among science teachers, the library media specialist, and the digital learning coach is underway. The goal for implementing this new pathway at the start of the 2023-2024 school year is to have at least four curricular units composed of project-based learning opportunities and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles ready for the upcoming school year.
Element Reflection
Element Reflection
Self Reflection on the Element: (Choose one: Emerging, Aligning, or Optimizing)
Optimizing
Strengths: How did your campus exemplify illustrating this element?
Strengths in this element include a wide variety of opportunities available to ALL students, including students from marginalized communities. Additionally, through pathways and partnerships with community organizations such as the Maritime Aquarium, instructional access is being expanded even more.
Next Steps: What could you have done differently to better align with this element?
Continued planning for the Maritime Aquarium pathway and more opportunities for student choice in demonstrating how they leverage technology to learn
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